Description

The Order Percopsiformes is a
small order of North American freshwater fishes that includes three families:
Amblyopsidae (cavefishes, four genera, six species); Aphredoderidae (pirate
perches, one species); and Percopsidae (trout-perches, one genus, two species;
Nelson 1994).Trout-perch (Percopsisomiscomaycus) are aptly named, since they exhibit characters of the
salmonids, such as an adipose fin, cycloid scales, and soft fin rays, as well as
characters of the percids, such as dorsal and anal fin spines, and ctenoid
scales (Nelson 1994).Trout-perch
are generally silvery in appearance, often with a partially transparent
appearance, and relatively large heads and eyes.They are small fish, averaging 76-102 mm and ranging to 152 mm in Canada
(Scott and Crossman 1973); the largest specimen from Montana was about 76 mm
(Brown 1971).

Distribution

The range of the trout-perch
includes the Ohio, lower Missouri, MacKenzie, Yukon, and Hudson Bay basins, and
the central Atlantic slope north to Quebec (Lee et al. 1980).In Montana, the trout-perch occurs in the South Saskatchewan River basin,
which drains northeastern Glacier National Park and the northwestern portion of
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.Trout-perch
were not reported in Montana until 1968 (Gould 1969), and the only Montana
collection records are from Lower St. Mary Lake (Gould 1969; Brown 1971) and the
associated St. Mary canal (Holton and Johnson 1996).Trout-perch have not been reported in other areas of the South
Saskatchewan River basin in Montana, such as the Belly River and Waterton Lake,
but they may occur there, as this basin has not been surveyed extensively (Brown
1971; L. Marnell, National Park Service, personal communication, October 2000).Moreover, trout-perch are commonly collected in the Belly River and
Waterton Lake systems in Alberta (T. Clayton, Alberta Environment, unpublished
data, January 2001).Trout-perch
have also been captured in the Milk River in Alberta (T. Clayton, Alberta
Environment, unpublished data, January 2001).The Milk River basin is outside of the trout-perch�s native range, the
species apparently gained access to the Milk River basin via the St. Mary Canal,
which connects the St. Mary River system with the North Fork Milk River.

Life History and Ecology

The life span of
trout-perch is three to four years (Magnuson and Smith 1963).The limited information available indicates that they become sexually
mature in one to three years, and spawn from May to August in shallow waters of
both lakes and streams (Magnuson and Smith 1963; Scott and Crossman 1973; Nelson
and Paetz 1992). Eggs are adhesive and hatch in about 6 days at 20-23�
C (Magnuson and Smith 1963).The
diet of the trout-perch has not been well studied, but reported food items
include chironomids, ephemeropterans, amphipods, and small fish (Scott and
Crossman 1973).

In Montana, trout-perch
are regularly captured in Lower Saint Mary Lake, and the Saint Mary Canal using
backpack and boat electrofishing (R. Wagner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
personal communication, October 2000).In
the lake, they are associated with large rocky cover, and are not captured over
sandy or silty substrates.During
daylight periods, they appear to use rocks as hiding cover, while at night, they
are out of, but in close proximity to rocky cover.In the Saint Mary Canal, trout-perch have been captured in winter after
the canal head gate is closed.In
the canal, trout-perch are found in residual pools, associated with large, rocky
cover or concrete riprap (R. Wagner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, personal
communication, October 2000).Scott
and Crossman (1973) report that trout-perch are typically a lake species in
eastern Canada, but that it also occurs in streams, including somewhat turbid
streams in western Canada.

Trout-perch are reported to
undergo diel migrations into shallower inshore waters of lakes at night (Brown
1971; Eddy and Underhill 1974; Becker 1983; Nelson and Paetz 1992).It is an important forage item for game fish such as walleye and northern
pike (Magnuson and Smith 1963; Scott and Crossman 1973).

Status

Trout-perch are recognized as a
Class C species of special concern by Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and
Parks and the Montana Chapter American Fisheries Society.Class C designation does not necessarily signify that a species is in
decline in Montana; it is used for species with �limited numbers and/or
limited habitats in Montana; widespread and numerous in North America as a
whole.Elimination from Montana
would be only a minor loss to the gene pool of this species or subspecies�
(Hunter 1997).The Montana Natural
Heritage Program�s assessment of this species� status in Montana is
�critically imperiled because of extreme rarity, or because some factor of its
biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction�, whereas the
trout-perch�s global status is �demonstrably secure, though it may be quite
rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery�.These designations are appropriate, because trout-perch have a limited
range in Montana There is little information on the current status of Montana
populations, although trout-perch were captured with minimal effort in Lower
Saint Mary Lake using electrofishing in 1999 (R. Wagner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, personal communication, January 2001).

Threats

In Missouri, some populations of
trout-perch have been extirpated, and the species is rare and on the verge of
disappearing from other areas of the state (Pflieger 1997).Pflieger (1997) considers trout-perch to be especially sensitive to
pollution and sedimentation associated with row crop agriculture, as well as
channelization.Trout-perch may
also be sensitive to warm water temperatures because summer die-offs have been
reported for some Minnesota lakes (Eddy and Underhill 1974).In Alberta, a marked decline in trout-perch has occurred in the Red Deer
River, probably due to the effects of a dam built there (J. S. Nelson,
University of Alberta, personal communication, October 2000).In Lower Saint Mary Lake, Montana, some trout-perch are lost to the
population when they enter the Saint Mary Canal.

Management

Trout-perch are
classified as a non-game wildlife species by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.They are too small to be sought by anglers.The entire known range of trout-perch in Montana is within Glacier
National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.Neither entity has a specific management program for trout-perch.Surveys in the Belly River and Waterton Lake in Montana are needed to
establish the presence of trout-perch in these waters.

References

Becker, G. C.1983.Fishes of Wisconsin.The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.